Top Shows: Carnivale du Soul, Excision and more

Hearts of Darkness will play a Mardi Gras party at the Uptown Theater.

Feb.172012

bill brownlee

{ special to ink }

sxsw midcoast takeover fundraiser

8 p.m. friday. the riot room.

Friday’s show is the second in a series of fundraisers for the Midwest Music Foundation’s MidCoast Takeover project that will present Kansas City artists in Austin, Texas, during SXSW.

The show features four of the region’s most promising up-and-coming bands. Cherokee Rock Rifle plays aggressive, no-holds-barred rock. The anthemic modern rock of Maps for Travelers sounds as if it should already be booming out of car stereos across the country. We Are Voices aims for a similarly grandiose sound. The Atlantic opens with a set of gritty rock tinged with blues and metal.

Tickets to the 8 p.m. show are $10.

jadakiss

8 p.m. friday. the midland.

The former Notorious B.I.G. protégé performs an 8 p.m. show at the Midland on Friday with Rich the Factor. Jadakiss is known for drawing the ire of Bill O’Reilly after he released a song blaming George W. Bush for the World Trade Center attacks in 2001.

Last spring he put out something a little less controversial: The mixtape “I Love You” as an ode to his fans. Tickets range from $35 to $100 at midlandkc.com.

carnivále du soul 8 p.m.

saturday. the uptown theater.

Not unlike a promising baseball prospect, Hearts of Darkness has slowly but surely polished its skills in the musical equivalent of the minor leagues. Kansas City’s 15-piece Afrobeat band has succeeded at each level of its development, graduating from sketchy spaces in the West Bottoms to winning over fans at the area’s most respected clubs.

It even earned a couple of brief stints in the big time when it opened for Snoop Dogg and kicked off the 2011 edition of Farm Aid.

With Carnivále du Soul at the cavernous Uptown Theater, the collective makes a bid for a permanent position in the major leagues. Extensive prospect reports indicate that the ensemble is up to the challenge.

The Good Foot, another formidable area dance act, also performs.

Tickets to the 8 p.m. show are $14.

red bull thre3style

9 p.m. saturday. the beaumont club.

Not every DJ battle is the same. The rules laid out by Red Bull’s Thre3Style competition present a unique set of challenges. Each contestant must demonstrate his or her skills in three genres in just fifteen minutes.

One will win $1,000 and the opportunity to participate in the contest’s national championship. Vinyl technician DJ P, who also serves as one of the event’s judges, will close with a set certain to showcase his eclectic taste and formidable skills.

Tickets to the 9 p.m. event are $6.

excision

8:30 p.m. monday. midland.

Skeptics of the form contend that all dubstep sounds alike. Even the style’s advocates admit that it can be difficult to differentiate the dance music’s practitioners from one another.

One thing everyone can agree on, however, is that dubstep is most effective when accompanied by a loud low end and mesmerizing visual effects. That’s why the current tour headlined by Canadian dubstep star Excision seems particularly promising.

Promoters insist that the show features custom-designed “soul-shattering bass” amplification and an “intelligent video mapping system.” Concertgoers will need to buy a ticket to find out exactly what that means.

Liquid Stranger and Lucky Date open the bass-heavy show.

Tickets to the 8:30 p.m. show are $25 in advance and $28 on the day of the show.